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Batman Begins - Australian Review (Reviews)13/09/2005 13:20:02
Finally, fans of the Caped Crusader have something to cheer about as the Batman franchise moves once again from the campy, nippled costumes and characters of Warner Bro's Batman and Robin, back to the seedy underbelly of Gotham, grittily captured in the new Batman Begins. Extending the fear infused action of the film to the gaming world, Eurocom mix a number of different gaming elements to create the best Batman game yet. However, considering past Batman titles, that's not really saying much. Without giving away any spoilers, the story revolves around Batman's origins, the accumulation of his badass bat abilities, and his first forays into the rubbery world of masked vigilantism. Closely following the film in both its dark style and filmic structure, Batman Begins starts with great intensity. With strong presentation in its expertly-crafted art direction and fluid animation of Batman and his foes, along with the superb voice acting from the likes of Liam Neeson, Christian Bale and Michael Caine, the game really arrests the attention of players. Unfortunately, the linear gameplay and action have trouble keeping in flight with its film counterpart's high ambitions. Gameplay is a mix of Splinter Cell style stealth (with its context sensitive action and acrobatic manoeuvres) and an icon driven interface that prompts Batman to interact with his environment to forward the action. Regrettably, it's executed with as much subtlety as a King's Cross street whore. It's a huge downer for the Caped Crusader's loyal following as it severely detaches the player from the Batman experience. Players are just left feeling like Eurocom are holding their hand through the whole process. Fortunately to distract gamers, Batman Begins is completely driven by the combat. As an expert in the art of fisticuffs, Batman handles foes with a flurry of kicks, punches, and more combos than a Maccas value meal. However, even with his rock hard abs and lithe rubber bodysuit, there's a very real limit to Batman's mortal powers. Not your average invincible superhero but rather a very angry masked vigilante, Batman can easily be beaten to a pulp or shredded with lead when outnumbered by embittered bad dudes. To counter this, the game encourages players to even the odds by employing a fun yet incredibly simple fear mechanic. It's your job to strike fear into the hearts of your foes by stalking, striking from afar and causing horrifying catastrophes around them. Sounds pretty cool huh? Well, it would be if it weren't dumbed down to appeal to the movie's broad fan base. Scaring your opponents is as simple as exploding a gas canister or throwing your Batarang at some precariously positioned crates. It would have been much more rewarding if players were able to really toy with enemies. Nothing says fear like a psychopath in a bat suit putting your balls in a vice. Come on Eurocom and EA, a bit of imagination wouldn't have hurt! Even with the big drawbacks in the gameplay department, Batman Begins is still a heap of fun. The action is simple but constant enough to numb you to the rigid and linear story and the accompanying animations are awesome. Overall Eurocom have visually and aurally captured the Batman essence, it's just a shame they haven't captured what it's like to be the Dark Knight.
Score = 7.5/10
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